nightjar
pronunciation
How to pronounce nightjar in British English:
UK [ˈnaɪtdʒɑ:(r)]
How to pronounce nightjar in American English:
US [ˈnaɪtˌdʒɑr]
-
- Noun:
- mainly crepuscular or nocturnal nonpasserine birds with mottled grayish-brown plumage and large eyes; feed on insects
Word Origin
- nightjar (n.)
- nocturnal bird, goatsucker, 1620s, from night + jar (v.). So called for the "jarring" sounds made by the male when the female is brooding, which have been described as a "churring trill that seems to change direction as it rises and falls." An Old English word for it was nihthræfn "night raven."
Example
- 1. You got asleep , nightjar ?
- 2. Nightjar , are you there ?
- 3. Are you there , nightjar ?
- 4. Teams will also employ different skills such as hearing the owls or nightjar churring during mid-night to record bird species .
- 5. The sweet birdsong of the nightjar , the roar of a lion or the grunt of a hippo could soon replace the trilling and beeping of britain 's mobile phones .